In Disney Lorcana, the only thing better than playing your Character cards is playing them for even cheaper. Why bother spending all your ink on one card, when you could save a bit and maybe play two or three instead?
Enter Shift. Shift is a surprisingly complex mechanic in an otherwise simple game, but mastering how it works will allow you to surprise your opponent with clever plays, all while saving your precious ink.
What Is Shift?
Shift is a keyword found on specific Character cards that allows you to play it from your hand for a reduced ink cost, whenever you could otherwise normally play a character. The amount of ink you have to pay will be noted next to the Shift keyword itself, and it will generally be lower than the regular cost found in the top right of the card.
However, there are two catches:
The first is that, to Shift, you require a Character with the same main name already out in play. For instance, if you want to shift Stitch, Rock Start onto something, you’ll need another Stitch card already in play – whether than be another Rockstar or a Carefree Surfer. This means you can’t Shift onto an empty table.
If a card you’ve Shifted onto is banished, every card in the pile will be banished individually. You’ll have all the cards in your discard pile, not just whatever was on top.
The second catch is that, by shifting onto an existing card, you effectively lose it. The Shift card you play from your hand will overlay the one already on the battlefield, overwriting its characteristics, stats, and abilities.
However, Shifting won’t replace any attribute of the card that isn’t written on it. This means your Shifted version will inherit any damage the original Character has accrued, whether it is currently exerted and, most importantly, whether its ink has dried.
Using Shift
Using Shift has two major benefits: it costs less, and it lets you surprise your opponents.
Technically, the cost reduction on Shifting isn’t as big as it first looks. This is because you still need to have played another Character to Shift onto it – shifting Aurora, Dreaming Guardian onto Aurora, Regal Princess will still cost a total of five ink, but it's spread over multiple turns.
If you wanted to play Aurora, Dreaming Guardian for its normal cost, you’d generally not be able to play it until your fifth turn. By Shifting, you can instead play it two turns earlier. This lets you get way ahead of your opponent and get imposing Characters in play far quicker.
The other benefit is that, if the ink on your original character has dried (meaning it’s been in play since the start of your turn), so will the ink of the card you Shift onto it. You can challenge, quest, sing songs, and otherwise exert the same turn it enters play. Shifting allows you to swing out with a Character much bigger than what your opponent has prepared for, potentially taking out one of their exerted Characters, or even questing for those last few lore points more efficiently.